


Empty Grave

by gladdecease



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Community: comment_fic, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-05-07
Updated: 2009-05-07
Packaged: 2017-10-17 02:26:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/171943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gladdecease/pseuds/gladdecease
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Martha wants to thank someone who isn't there to be thanked.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Empty Grave

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted [here](http://community.livejournal.com/comment_fic/17930.html?thread=2603018#t2603018), in response to [ladybubblegum](http://ladybubblegum.livejournal.com/profile)'s prompt: Doctor Who, Rose/Martha, moving on

The cemetery was quiet in the early morning. A woman walked slowly among the graves, glancing at names until she found the one she'd been looking for. She stood before it for several moments, trying to find the words she needed.

Finally, she spoke.

"He was always in love with you. I hope you know that." She paused, shifting her grip on the flower she'd brought.

"It took me awhile to figure out who you were. Jack was a big help, with a bit of convincing." She smiled, muffled a chuckle. "I bet you know a lot about convincing Jack to do things.

"But even working with a full name didn't help me much. How many Tylers are there in London? And Rose is a more common name than I'd expected. Mickey was no good, he'd been over there longer than you. All else Jack knew was that you'd been on the list of the dead, after Canary Wharf. But I kept digging."

The cemetery was small, crowded, as you'd expect in London. But there was a charm to the place that said it was loved fondly. Martha looked down at the three well-kept graves under the name Tyler. "And here you are."

She put down the flower she'd bought at the stand around the corner, then stood. "I know you're not dead, but you're not here, either. And we never got to talk, during that mess with Davros and the end of the universe and all that, so... this is the closest I can get to thanking you."

She laughed. "I bet it sounds weird - me, this girl who was his companion straight after you, thanking you. I was so jealous of you for so long, but I've realized it was good, that you were first. Going back to a normal life after the Doctor would have been impossible for me, if he hadn't been in love with you, mourning you all that time. I might have stuck with him forever.

"But I'm not." Martha twisted the ring on her finger briefly. "I'm moving on. So, thank you."

She left as quietly as she'd come, a pale pink rosebud the only thing to show she'd been there.


End file.
